where the spider was created from a web, there is no escape(there is no secret door beneath me, I checked at the death screen) and my character is too weak, to kill a distended spider?

Ouch! That is a particularly nasty situation. Corridors shouldn't go into dead-ends like that, and bar Staves of Entrapment there's no way that newly-tunnelled squares will be trapped, so I guess this was in an interesting room or vault? Do you remember which one? We can maybe just move the trap out of the dead end.

For actual suggestions there I guess the possibilities are to buff and fight as Hugo suggests (could work if you're just slightly too weak to kill one normally, but not if you're a non-combat type -- in any case make sure you get free of the web first), or to make the spider run away. They don't respect Elbereth, so this would need a Staff of Majesty or Trumpet of Terror (and maybe a few points in Will, or Channelling), and there's a good chance you won't have either of these by the Distended Spider part of the game.

Is there any kind of debug-switch or wizard-mode I could use to test out all the smithing options? I'd love to be able to basically have 99 skills + all smithing abilities enabled (even just in browse mode) just to develop some plans for specific builds.

I've tried creating characters with all skill pts invested in smithing and then sprinting madly for the 2nd forge (I even have a save of a character who survived the trip), but even that limits my options by quite a bit.

We agree that this would be good. You don't need to be at a forge to explore the menu currently (pressing 0 will bring it up), and you can see what would be required for items needing more Smithing than you have, but you do need to have the relevant abilities.

For any particular item, you can create a dwarf who can see this information on turn one, but you don't start with quite enough experience to be able to make all types of item with one character.

Yes, it must have been a vault, but I'm pretty sure the trap was just randomly generated, as there are no specified traps in dead-ends of the mazes.

As for a solution (if any), I will either put in a check for having two empty spaces next to any web trap or leave it be. The latter may seem harsh, but shouldn't as there are about 50 new features we have sketched out for addition to Sil but never end up getting coded because I'm spending the coding time on little things like this, which need to be tested, introduce their own little bugs etc.

I don't think you need to change anything with regard to traps, sometimes you get trapped in a no-win situation and die, that's why you can create more charcters. Obviously if it happens too often it's a problem but I don't think that is the case here.

Also about worms, the only time I ever have a problem with them is if they are in a room behind a bunch of orcs or something. They sit there and breed while the orcs bottle me up in the doorway. I guess knowing (now) that they stop breeding when I am farther away it would make sense to lead the orcs away and kill them then come back for the worms.

Also about worms, the only time I ever have a problem with them is if they are in a room behind a bunch of orcs or something. They sit there and breed while the orcs bottle me up in the doorway. I guess knowing (now) that they stop breeding when I am farther away it would make sense to lead the orcs away and kill them then come back for the worms.

Yes, this.

Also, is the five squares linear distance (including through walls)? I'm just trying to think of how I can leave a room, explore a different part of the level, come back, and have it be full (literally full) of shadow worms (nasty death, by the way). I've definitely had similar experiences with green worms at early levels, which again turns the game into a writeoff if they are occupying a key room between me and the stairs (or the stairs room(s) themselves).

...if you are more than 5 squares away from them, they don't reproduce.

Are you sure about this? Once I got into the non-stealth-build game, I've definitely had worms effectively destroy a few levels--in some cases I never even knew they existed until the takeover was already so advanced that it was game over. Do they have to have line of sight?

Quote:

Originally Posted by half

In addition, there are always at least two stairs (up/down), but the worms could cut you off from both of them. There are also many in-game ways of dealing with them such as Follow Through, herbs of rage etc, though this might be difficult right at the start.

True, everything can be dealt with by some character with some ability or item at some point in the game, right? If I'm on a deeper level, I just shut the door and go around (as there are more stairs and more interconnected passageways and rooms so going around is more possible). However, up until about 400'-450' or so, if worms occupy a key room or the stairs (hopefully both stairs don't pop in the same room), that's it.

It doesn't bug me too much to wade in and perish, but it's not too satisfying either.

Also, is the five squares linear distance (including through walls)? I'm just trying to think of how I can leave a room, explore a different part of the level, come back, and have it be full (literally full) of shadow worms (nasty death, by the way). I've definitely had similar experiences with green worms at early levels, which again turns the game into a writeoff if they are occupying a key room between me and the stairs (or the stairs room(s) themselves).

Aren't green worms slow? I've been in situations like there where I just take my armor off and wade in. Not guaranteed to work, but it's better than nothing

Question: I'm on 400' and I entered a little pocket of rooms arranged in sort of a "swastika" pattern (sorry, couldn't think of a better analogy.) In the middle "hub" room there's a silent watcher!

Is this a "special" set of rooms, or is this watcher just realllly out of depth? I didn't find anything great in the adjoining rooms, so perhaps it was just a really crappy vault?

Yes, it is a "special" set of rooms. It's a type of vault, I think. In this vault, you can expect a Silent Watcher. And you can expect some powerful monsters near it. Unless you have Vanish + Sprinting, I'd stay away from that area!! If you awaken the Silent Watcher it will 'screetch' to stun, cause, fear, and nearby enemies will come to investigate.

Alternatively, with high stealth, you can sneak past it. Or if you have high will / Clarity, you can get past safely. Or if you have damage output, you can actually kill it. In most cases, it's better to avoid the Silent Watcher.

And yes, that Silent Watcher is *very* out-of-depth at 400ft. I think they're native to 1000ft, if I'm not mistaken.